Life Sciences Commons^™

Evaluation Of Occupational Risk Factors For Nurses And Cnas: Analysis Of Florida Workers' Compensation Claims Database, Sheila Mohammed

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Musculoskeletal injuries lead to most claims even though needlestick injuries receive the most attention. In 2010, health expenditures in the United States neared $2.6 trillion. CNAs, orderlies, and attendants had the highest rates of musculoskeletal disorders of all occupations with an incidence of 249 per 10,000 compared to 34 per 10,000 for all workers. The financial burden of back injuries in the healthcare industry is estimated to add up to $20 billion annually. Data was extracted for cause of injury, nature of injury and body part injured. Extracted data was analyzed both descriptively and by logistic and linear regression using …

The Assessment Of An In-Vitro Model For Evaluating The Role Of Parp In Ethanol-Mediated Hepatotoxicity, Jayme Coyle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This investigation assesses the role of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in ethanol-mediated hepatotoxicity using the untransfected HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma line, an established, well-characterized toxicological model. HepG2 cells were treated with ethanol at concentrations between 100 mM and 800 mM, and assessed for markers of cytotoxicity. PARP-1 activity in total cell protein lysates was quantified as a proxy of apoptotic induction at six hours. Our results demonstrated a 1.43-fold AST activity increase in culture medium isolates of cells exposed to 800 mM without significant effect on cellular viability. PARP-1 activity varied greatly and results for enzyme activity remained inconclusive. The results suggest a …

Development Of A Novel Method For Deriving Thresholds Of Toxicological Concern (Ttcs) For Vaccine Constituents, Jennifer Jessica White

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Safety assessment relating to the presence of impurities, residual materials and contaminants in vaccines is a focus area of research at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Sponsors who submit Investigational New Drug (IND) applications for new vaccine products must report the results of safety assessments to the Division of Vaccines and Related Products Applications (DVRPA). Scientifically defining thresholds of toxicological concern (TTCs) as they apply to vaccine constituents will provide a useful aid to the sponsors and public regarding safety assessments of compounds for which there is little or no toxicity data. TTCs are mathematically modeled …

Asbestos Exposure In The Research Laboratory, Ediberto D. Garcia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Asbestos has been employed in a myriad of industrial applications for more than a century. Of the 181 Mt of asbestos produced worldwide, over 31 Mt was consumed in the U.S. The production and consumption of this mineral eventually was found to cause asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. While the brunt of the human exposure to asbestos occurred in insulation work, many more workers in other jobs were expose to asbestos fibers. Very little is known about the potential exposure to asbestos in research labs.

Goal: In order to investigate potential research lab work exposures, we simulated lab work …

The Perception Of Emergency Department Physicians Regarding Economic And Regulatory Factors Impacting Management Of Drug Seeking Patients, Sharon Susanne Kelley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Physicians in the emergency department (ED) are facing a number of unique challenges in the currently changing healthcare and economic climates. Dramatic increases in ED patient volumes have been noted nationwide with visits related to prescription opioid abuse and misuse alone having increased by 111% between 2004 and 2008.

Ironically, several challenges ED physicians are facing arise from regulatory and economic initiatives which were originally designed for the protection of patients. Regulatory requirements to address pain as the fifth vital sign, along with entities utilizing patient satisfaction based reimbursement, have inadvertently created an environment conducive to exploitation by the …

Exploring The Sulfide Tolerance Of Ectosymbiotic Niphargus Amphipods From The Frasassi Caves, Central Italy, Jan Bauermeister, Karoline Assig, Sharmishtha Dattagupta

International Journal of Speleology

Two species of the crustacean amphipod genus Niphargus inhabit the sulfidic groundwaters of the Frasassi caves in central Italy, and both harbor filamentous, sulfide-oxidizing Thiothrix ectosymbionts. As sulfide is toxic to most aerobic organisms, it appeared possible that the ectosymbionts could help their Niphargus hosts with detoxification processes. In this study, mortality due to sulfide was compared between Niphargus individuals with ectosymbionts and individuals whose ectosymbionts had been killed by antibiotic treatment. Both Frasassi-dwelling Niphargus species revealed exceptionally high tolerances to sulfide compared to other amphipod species studied so far. Niphargus individuals without viable ectosymbionts tolerated sulfide levels exceeding those …